UNEP and UNECE have jointly hosted a European Regional Environmental Information Network Conference (REIN) in Istanbul on 13-17 April, feeding into preparations for the sixth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6).

Member States attending the European REIN Conference confirmed the five regional priorities from GEO-5 for the pan-European GEO Regional Assessment: Climate Change, Air Pollution, Chemicals and Waste, Biodiversity and Freshwater. The scientific assessment of these priorities is to provide a link from the regional to the global GEO-6 assessment.

Member states also confirmed that the pan-European GEO Regional Assessment should inform the Paris UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in December 2015 as appropriate, and be submitted to UNEA 2 in May 2016. They further recommended that the UNECE Secretariat propose to the Committee for Environmental Policy (CEP) at its 21st session in October 2015 that the pan-European GEO Regional Assessment be launched at the 8th Ministerial Conference Environment for Europe in June 2016.

The notion that CEP consider requesting the 8th Ministerial Conference to establish a pan-European regular environmental reporting and assessment, in line with the GEO Regional Assessment process underpinned by UNEP Live, was furthermore supported by Member States.

For more information: Tomas.marques@unep.org